East of Eden (An AmazingPhil Horror-Fiction)
by IAmWhatIEat
Summary: AmazingPhil has always loved his fans. Always. When a fan goes too far with her obsession with the charming YouTuber, he will have to face life or death to save his best friend, Danisnotonfire and figure out that it's not all fun and games in the land of Eden.
1. Chapter 1

*WARNING: THIS FANFICTION CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGERY OF ABUSE, NEGLECT, DEATH, GORE AND OTHER HORRIBLE SCENES PERTAINING MR. PHIL LESTER, ALSO KNOWN AS AMAZINGPHIL AND DAN HOWELL, ALSO KNOWN AS DANISNOTONFIRE. PLEASE PROCEED READING WITH CAUTION*

Chapter One

Harry Potter Glasses

"Dan! Have you seen my Gengar t-shirt?" I yelled from my room. Gengar, even though he was cottony and inanimate, definitely didn't want to come out and play today.

"Can't you wear another shirt? We're going to be late!" Dan called back. I could hear him shuffling in the hallways, trying to jam his feet into his high-tops. Dan, my flat-mate, was very punctual. Actually he was very OCD about a lot of things, like those damn cupboards he was always telling me to close. Me? Not so much. I threw on another t-shirt, giving up finding Gengar and threw on my shoes.

"Alrighty, let's go." Dan smiled at me, all white teeth and dimples. I shrugged on my coat and we headed out the door towards the BBC studio. We almost tripped over our usual sleeping hobo along the way, who rolled over and cursed at us in nonsensical word salad.

"You know if he chose somewhere better to sleep than a public pavement, than he wouldn't have to curse so many people out every day." I said.

"He probably gets off on it." Dan pointed out.

We proceeded down the street, coming to the boxy building that was BBC Radio 1. "I'll go get our schedules." Dan volunteered. I hung around the doorway, enjoying this weird heat wave that should've made London sludgy and cold this time of year, but instead made it pleasant and almost humid.

"Are you AmazingPhil?" I turned around to a girl probably no older than thirteen. She was wearing thick, round-rimmed glasses that may or may not have made her resemble Harry Potter's weird little sister and had frizzy honey-colored hair. She had her hands laced in front of her and was looking at me sheepishly.

"I am!" I said excitedly. I loved meeting fans. They made my insides happy. Especially younger ones. They were so innocent and cute. "What's your name?"

"Eden." She answered and smiled, revealing a large gap between her two front teeth.

"Eden. I like your name!" I said.

"I like your name." She answered, playing with her hands.

"Nah, my name is boring. What's your favorite video?"

"Um," She looked down at her shoes. "Probably-,"

"We're ready, Phil." Dan said, thrusting our schedule into my hands.

"I'm sorry to cut you off, but I gotta go do the radio show, will you listen in?"

She was peering over her glasses at Dan, she looked almost angry. "Yes, I always listen in, Phil." She said curtly and then turned and walked off.

"That was rude." I turned to Dan.

"What are you talking about? I saved you!"

"You did not! She was in the middle of saying something."

"Well, we gotta go anyway." Dan said as he headed for the door. I turned, looking for Eden, but I didn't see her. Oh well. It was only one fan, right?

"What the hell is this?" Dan picked up an envelope as we walked into our flat. "How did someone get our address? We send everything to our PO boxes." He handed me the letter that was addressed to Mr. AmazingPhil in big, loopy handwriting.

"Someone dropped it off personally." I murmured, looking at the empty space where the postage stamp should be.

"Open it. Maybe it'll say who it's from." Dan shrugged. With one movement I shoved my finger in the corner and ripped the top open. The paper itself was bright blue stationary with Pon Pon Purin in the corner, but there was no writing, just a drawing of a smudgy tree with an apple hanging from its branch in red ink.

"Your fans are crazy." Dan muttered as he assumed his usual position in his gaming chair in front of the TV and started the new game he just bought.

"My fans." I laughed. "Your fans send you pictures of penises. At least this one's innocent." I looked down at the picture again. There was something wrong with it, somehow. This wasn't a usual fan drawing. There was something about this that seemed well, dark.

_Don't be silly, Phil. It's a tree with an apple. Whoever sent it probably thought I wasn't getting enough Vitamin A in my diet and wanted to remind me to eat my fruit from sustainably grown trees._

That was definitely it.

I hoped.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Sealed With a Kiss

That letter sat on my nightstand like a sad, lonely child that got picked last for dodge ball. It kept me up until I couldn't take it anymore. I got up and went to the bathroom, shoving that piece of paper and Pon Pon Purin in the toilet and hitting the button to flush it. I watched as the tree folded in on itself and then disappeared.

_Phil, you're 26 years old. That is a piece of paper with a drawing of a tree on it. Get over yourself._

I crawled back into bed and went to sleep, putting that stupid tree out of my mind.

The next day I was busy making a hearty bowl of Ramen noodles in the microwave for dinner when the door knocked.

"Pizza!" Dan yelled and slid across the floor in his socks.

"Why am I making Ramen if you ordered pizza?" I whined and took my sad bowl of noodles out and added the flavor packet.

Dan opened the door. Standing there was our neighbor that lives one floor under us. He was a completely bald man and our bright track lights bounced off his shiny head like a disco ball. He handed Dan a piece of mail. "This was in my mailbox." And then he walked away. He was still pretty mad at Dan for telling about a million or so people on the internet about his sexual animal noises.

"It's for you 'Mr. AmazingPhil." Dan handed me the envelope. This one actually had a stamp on it, like it was mailed, but it was the same primary school handwriting as the last one. My stomach dropped. I told myself to stop being so dramatic as I ripped open the envelope. Inside was another drawing of a tree with an apple in red ink, but this time there was kiss next to it in sparkly lip-gloss.

"Aw. Phil has an admirer." Dan said as he peered over my shoulder at it.

"This is weird." I said and crumpled it up and threw it away in the waste basket. Immediately. So I wouldn't lose sleep over it like the last one.

"It's just innocent." Dan said, pulling it out of the waste basket. "It's probably a local and they figured out where we live based on our videos and doesn't have anything better to say, so they draw." He smoothed it out on the counter.

_He's right, Phil. _I tried to convince myself. But, still it was bugging me for some reason, even if it was just an innocent picture of a tree.

"I wonder why they draw it in red, though. I mean, trees are green." Dan said and tossed it back in the garbage. "Anyway, do you want to play video games or something?"

I looked at the waste basket. I should burn it, honestly. I wasn't sure what was wrong with it; it just gave me the creeps. It was the first fan mail I've ever received that wasn't in my PO box, and usually fan mail consists of letters and fun drawings and souvenirs. Not a creepy picture of a tree with an apple in it. Seriously. What the hell?

"Sure," I said. Video games took my mind off a lot of things, like when I got set up to go on blind date with a transvestite. I played Sonic for literally three days straight after that. Don't ask.

I pulled my lion teddy in my lap and we started playing whatever video game Dan was in at the moment. I guess I wasn't that into it though, because I kept dying and Dan would sigh and restart the game.

"It's a letter, that's it." He said finally, reading me like a book.

"It's actually letters. Plural."

"It's a fangirl. Just get it out of your head."

I sighed and looked down at my stuffed lion. I still had a hard time with it though. It was just so weird and out of the ordinary. Even the strangest letters I got weren't some creepy picture of a tree. And it wasn't really the picture anymore. It was the person behind the picture. Who, besides our close friends, know where I live? I didn't know anyone with that kind of handwriting and if it was a joke, Dan would be in on it. Who was it?

* * *

Dan tried cheering me up the next day by treating me to Starbucks, which was one of my favorites, not gonna lie. We both got our overpriced, yet scrumptious and worth it coffee drinks and sat down in one of the corners of the posh little coffee shop and started playing Animal Crossing on our Nintendo DS's.

"Hi, Phil." I looked up from my character and saw the gapped-tooth Eden staring at me with a coffee in her hands. I smiled back and closed my DS.

"Hi, there." I said. "Fancy meeting you again."

"Oh, well." She blushed at her shoes. "I live around here."

"That makes sense. How are you doing?" I looked at Dan, who rolled his eyes ever so slightly. I really hoped that it was lost on Eden, but she was too busy blushing at the ground.

"I'm fine." She looked at me with wide eyes all of a sudden. It kind of scared me. "What about you?"

"Doing great! Hey, so, you never got to answer my question."

"Oh, yeah. Um. My favorite video would probably have to be…"

"Well, I think we're going to be late for that thing, Phil." Dan interrupted. I shot him a look and he shrugged a little. This was the second time he interrupted a fan. The second time! And it was the same bloody fan, too! I was going to have to talk to him about that.

I looked at Eden and smiled. "I'm sorry. Dan may look like a charming guy on the outside, but on the inside, resides a socially awkward raccoon."

"Hey!" He protested.

She giggled hesitantly. "It's okay. My favorite video is probably _Why I Was a Weird Kid_." She skipped off with her coffee drink.

"You need to stop doing that." I looked at Dan. "You're being awfully rude lately."

He shrugged. "You're not going to lose followers because you were rude to one person, Phil."

I looked at him intently. "But, it's just human decency."

"Sure." He rolled his eyes. "Let's go home and see if there are any more red trees in our mailbox."

I shivered at that thought, unknowing what was going to come next.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Chloroform

"Swiggity Swail, look who's got mail." Dan laughed as he handed me my usual letter.

"That doesn't even make sense, Dan." I said as I ripped open the letter and pulled out the drawing. My heart started beating against the side of my chest as I read aloud the saying that was in red ink. "_Forbidden fruits taste the sweetest_."

Dan leaned up against the counter, his arms crossing. "Well, that isn't creepy at all." He pulled the letter from my hands and stuffed it down the garbage disposal, turning it on.

"What do you think it means?"

"I don't know." He said as we watched the paper go down the sink. "I don't care. If it happens again, we'll alert the police. This is hedging on stalking. We don't want it to go too far."

I watched Dan. There was something about him that was kind of off and I don't think it was my sudden feeling of paranoia that was getting the best of me. He was acting strange, for some reason. Almost nervous.

"Everything alright?" I asked as he powered up his laptop.

He glanced at me. "That girl, the one in Starbuck's. She gives me the creeps."

I thought about Eden, sweet, little, innocent Eden. She was odd looking, sure. But, I don't didn't think there was anything remotely bad about her. "What do you mean?" I hedged.

"How did she know we were at Starbuck's?"

"She said she lived around here." I shrugged, a thought occurring to me. "You don't think she's the one sending these drawings, do you?"

"She might be."

"I don't believe it."

"Believe what you want. She still gives me the creeps."

I shook my head and looked towards the sink. I couldn't believe that Eden would do something like that. She seemed so shy and awkward. Aren't stalkers supposed to be bloodthirsty monsters?

I woke up to a text message that vibrated against my face, startling me awake. The little screen blinded me as I looked at the unfamiliar number and then the text. I jumped to my feet, and ran across the hallway, shaking Dan awake.

"What the fuck, Phil?" He groaned and rolled over.

"Dan, someone sent me a text message."

"Orgasmic."

"No, but look what it says."

He opened one eye and then popped up taking my phone. "_Forbidden fruits taste the sweetest_." He read aloud. "_Meet me in Sentinel Park._"

"Should we go?"

He looked at me, his eyes wide. "No, I'm calling the police."

"Dan! Maybe they just want to meet us. Maybe we can put a stop to all of this if we just talk to them." I suggested.

"Why would they want us to come out at-," He looked at his nightstand clock. "2:37 in the morning. It seems a bit suspicious, don't you think?"

"I think involving the police would be a bit rash."

"I'm not going to the park at 3am, that's dumb. Even if we don't get murdered, we'll definitely get mugged."

"Then I'll go." I said, standing up.

"You can't go alone! What if something happens to you?"

After some arguing, we changed clothes and started walking down to the small park that was a couple blocks from us. I pointed out if they did want to mug and/or murder us, they would've chosen a bigger park or at least a more secluded area. I convinced him it was just probably a nervous, socially anxious fan or even a prank from our friends and we could put a stop to everything without involving the police, which was the_ last_ thing that I wanted to do.

We crossed the threshold of the park and Dan stopped and sighed. "Nobody's here. Let's go home."

I looked around, the park was empty and dark and the swing set swayed back and forth in the breeze, making a creepy noise. A couple bats flew overhead, screeching and I turned to Dan.

"Maybe you're right."

"I know I'm right. Let's go."

Like a flash, my mouth was being covered by cloth and I gasped for breath. The cloth smelled sour, like milk that had been left out for too long.

And then everything went dark.

* * *

**Hi cuddly cacti! Some updates! **

**I'm going to thank my wonderful followers at the end of this fic, because I can see now it's going to be a short one, like a novella. It's almost done, so I will probably be finished with it in the next couple of days.**

**I'm kind of basing this fic around the****_ Saw_**** movies: you introduce the characters, you introduce the protagonist, there is some creepy mystery, then BAM! blood, guts, gore and then somehow they escape. Sounds pretty legitimate, right? I think so. **

**Thank you for reading my first ever horror-fic. **

**To my ****_Love is Blind_**** fans, I have the first couple chapters done of the sequel and should be uploading that shortly after this is done.**

**Ta ta!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Danisonfire

I woke up, my world was dark and I was lightheaded and confused. I was in an almost empty room, save a rug and a table that sat against the wall and my hands were tied above my head in rope. My heart started pounding as my eyes adjusted to the light and I realized I couldn't get my arms free. I looked around the room, searching and I found Dan, his head slumped forward and his hands tied up onto the banister like mine.

"Dan!" I whispered loudly. "Dan, wake up."

His head snapped forward and he looked around, panicked. "Ohmygod, where are we?"

"You're in my cellar." We both turned in the direction of the voice and Eden, sweet little, gapped-tooth Eden, sat cross-legged on the floor in front of us. She was wearing an oversized Dan and Phil t-shirt and her glasses were falling half-way down her nose.

"Eden, w-why are you doing this?" I asked. I tried wiggling my hands free of their ropes, but they were tied so tight, I couldn't feel them anymore.

"Because I want to play with you, silly." Her gapped teeth stood in contrast to the darkness.

"You don't have to tie us up, you know." Dan snapped. I could hear the anxiety in his voice as he thrashed around against his ropes.

She sprang to her feet, switching on the light from the one bulb that hung from the ceiling. She pulled out a knife and held it against Dan's throat. "Was I talking to you? No, I wasn't. So, if you want to keep breathing, Daniel, I suggest you shut the hell up." He made a little squeaking noise and looked at me.

"He didn't mean to be rude." I tried to sound as level as possible, even though I was scared shitless.

She scoffed and back away. "Sure, like he didn't mean to be rude outside BBC or in the coffee shop." She turned to me. "I really only wanted you, Phil. But, after seeing how Dan treats fans, I decided that he should be taught…a lesson."

"No. No. No. No." Dan thrashed against his ropes again. "Really, I think I've learned my lesson enough. I mean, tying us up, it was very clever and funny. Can we go now?"

She sighed at Dan, contempt in her eyes. "You're such a hypocrite, Daniel."

He stopped thrashing around and stared at her. His chest puffed up a little, like it does when he gets angry. "What?"

She shrugged. "You're only nice to the pretty fans. You're so arrogant and rude and you think you're the center to the whole world."

His eyes bugged out and he started fighting his ropes again. "That's so not true! I try to be nice to all my fans! That's-,"

"Dan, stop it." I started, trying to get him to calm down. I mean, we were knocked out, tied in this girl's basement, facing impending doom and Dan had to pick this moment to start a fight with a thirteen year old. It was very illogical in this point in time.

"Enough!" Eden's voiced raised and she threw her knife, narrowly missing Dan's face, sticking to the wall behind us. Dan stared in horror at Eden, who smirked and then walked over to the table against the wall that had a whole bunch of nasty tools on it. "I want to play a game, Dan. Do you want to play a game?" She widened her eyes at him, making her look innocent and young.

He shook his head. "No. Not really." Panic was in his voice again, and all anger was gone.

"I want to play a game." She murmured and pulled something out from under the table. "It's called _Danisliarhe'sactuallyonfire._" She gave her wide innocent expression again and picked up a jug of kerosene, placing it on the table.

His eyes widened and he started throwing himself against the wall, trying to free himself.

"Eden, I don't think you're being very…fair." I managed to say, trying to fight the panic that I was going to lose my best friend to arson torture.

She turned her wide eyes to me, smiling wide. "Oh, Phil. I'm not going to kill him." Her expression darkened. "I just want to play with him a little. It's all in good fun, you'll see." She beamed and pulled out a long knife and some more rope. She came up behind Dan and poked him in the back with the knife, making him straighten up. "I'm going to tie you by your feet and neck, now. If you try to fight, you'll lose the game and die, understand?" He gulped and nodded, tears streaming down his face.

She started humming _This Little Light of Mine_ as she tied Dan by his feet and then strung his neck up, throwing the rope over the banister. She pulled it taught, making Dan gasp for air and fight against his arm ties.

I looked around the room, trying to figure out what I could use to get out of here. The only tools that she had that could cut through rope were on that table on the other side of the cellar. There was nothing else. The banisters themselves were of heavy solid wood. A glint of metal caught my eye, though and I saw the knife that was still embedded in the wall behind Dan.

"Eden, please don't do this." I begged. "Why don't we play Monopoly or something? I'll even let you be the car piece?"

Her dark expression snapped to me. "No. I'm playing a game with Dan, Phil. Wait your turn."

I shuddered to think what my turn was going to be. I looked at the knife again. It was seriously my only hope. I gauged how far it was from me and figured if I could swing up by my arms, I could knock it down with my foot. The only problem was Eden standing right there, if I missed or knocked it away, she would notice and I would get punished like Dan was about to be.

She kept humming as she doused Dan over the head with kerosene. "_This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine." _She went over to the table and picked up a box of matches.

"Please." Dan cried. "Please don't do this. Please, I'm so sorry. I'll do anything you want."

"I just want to play." She lit the match and threw it at his feet, igniting the kerosene. Dan started screaming and I turned my head away, unable to watch, trying to keep from vomiting at the sight of Dan on fire and smell of burning flesh.

Eden started laughing maniacally and then after about two or three minutes of Dan's painful screams I heard the splash of water and turned to see Dan, slumped, harsh burns covered his chest and arms and legs, soaked to the bone.

Bile rose to my throat at the sight of my best friend, who was so burned, he couldn't stand up, even though he was forced to by his ties and what Eden, who I thought was a sweet, and cute and innocent, had done. How could she have done this? I had never met anyone so twisted. It was sick. She was sick.

She put her hand on her chin. "I don't think I let you burn long enough, but I think you learned your lesson. Goodnight, boys." She yawned and then pecked Dan on the forehead and me on the cheek. I tried to keep from gagging after she, this mentally deranged creature, touched me.

The metal from the knife glinted in the light. I watched Eden disappear upstairs and then started swinging. "It's okay, Dan." I said to my unconscious friend. "Let's get you out of here."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Dancing on the Edge

With the upper body strength of a Big Mac, it took me a couple tries to swing high enough to hit the knife with my foot. I stood breathless, staring at the knife that was just out of reach, mocking me and my under-developed biceps. I looked at Dan whose head was slumped forward, his wounds red and raw and angry looking. He started wheezing ever so slightly, probably from the smoke he inhaled and I knew if I didn't act fast, it was going to be life or death for him in a matter of hours.

I stepped back as far as I could and swung up, my foot hit the knife and it clattered loudly against the wood floor. I watched as it bounced once, twice and then I stared at it.

"Shit." I muttered to myself. How was I supposed to pick it up now?

I sighed and looked at my shoes. I was wearing a pair of black Vans that my mum got me for Christmas last year. I reached over with my foot and dragged the knife towards me. I stepped on the hilt so the blade was sticking up at a 45 degree angle. I carefully balanced the sole of my foot on the tip.

_Oh my God, what am I doing?_ I glanced at Dan again, the eyes had rolled into the back of his head and he was still wheezing. I took a mouthful of my t-shirt sleeve and in one quick motion, I forced the blade into my foot. Pain shot up my leg like lightning and it took all my might not to keep from crying out.

I hated Eden. I never felt such hate in my life. She needed to pay for this. It was just wrong.

I swung my leg up and around the banister, so I resembled somewhat of a skinnier, more awkward version of Spiderman. I took the blade with one of my hands and started sawing at the rope, trying to be as quiet as possible.

I had to keep myself from shouting with glee when one wrist came loose and then the other. I ran over to Dan, untying his ropes, trying to be careful not to aggravate his burns.

"Oh gosh, Dan. You're so heavy." I said as I slung his body over my shoulder. I wasn't sure how I was going to make it up the stairs and out of here with 75 kilograms of dead weight on my shoulder, but I had to try.

I tried to make it up the stairway and I thought I was home free when a tiny little body vaporized in front of me. "Where are you going, Phil?" Her wide eyes shown in the lamp light. I looked around the room, looking for something I could as a weapon against her, but the house was empty, completely empty.

"Dan's sick." I explained the best I could.

She shook her head disappointedly and sighed. "No, he's not sick. He's being punished."

I tried ducking around her, almost dropping Dan. She stepped in front of me, pulling out a gun from the hem of her pants. My heart leapt and I took a step back, dropping Dan on the floor with a thud and falling on top of him.

"W-where did you get that?" I asked, staring down the barrel of a pistol that was centimeters from my face. I had never seen a gun in my life, let alone had to stare down one at point blank range.

She shrugged. "My daddy was a government worker and he snuck it in." She cocked it back and put her finger on the trigger. "Now, playtime isn't over, Phil." She put the gun on Dan's temple. "I highly recommend getting back to the cellar, if you want Dan to see light of day."

I slowly got up, I was shaking so bad I couldn't see straight and tried to limp towards the door, she opened it quickly and pushed me down the steps and rolled Dan's body behind me.

"I'm going to have to punish you, you naughty boy. Toys aren't allowed to escape." She shook her head as she zip-tied me to the banister before she doubled tied ropes. I stared at the revolver that was peeking out from the hem of her jeans.

"Punish me?" I squeaked a little. I was exhausted, and my foot throbbed from the knife wound. I would've given anything for this to all be some hideous nightmare that I was going to startled myself awake from. Anything. I would've given my left eye.

"But, it's okay. I'll do it quick, so it won't hurt so much." She smiled up at me.

I looked at Dan and started crying. I didn't want to be punished. I didn't want to be here. I _didn't _want my friend to die. I started pulling on my wrists, which just made the zip-ties cut into my skin. Blood oozed down my arms and dripped off my elbows.

She looked at me. "You're a bad toy." And she pulled out her gun. She pulled the trigger and with a loud _pop!_ I felt a bite in my kneecap and my bones shatter and then excruciating pain shot up and down and I wanted nothing more than to fall on the floor, but I had to keep standing on it, because of these stupid ties. I felt like I was going to pass out, it hurt so bad.

"There." She said, putting the gun back in its usual place. "Now, you're not going anywhere."

My world turned red and my knee was on fire. "I hate you." I muttered as I tried focusing on my breathing to keep myself from hyperventilating from the pain.

She stared at me, a wicked gleam in her eye that wasn't there before. "I know. Everyone does."

* * *

**Raise your hand if you wished VidCon was over so you can go back to scrolling on the amazingphil and danisnotonfire tags on Tumblr without wanting to rip your heart out and bleed feelings all over your keyboard?**

***raises hand***


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Cat's Out of the Bag

I managed to fall asleep standing up on one leg. It wasn't because I wanted to; it was just out of sheer exhaustion. I woke up the next day, the dull light from the lightbulb, casting odd shadows against the walls.

I looked at Dan. Eden had let him lie there, just tying up his hands. I was relieved to watch him slowly inhale and exhale, even if it was labored and intense. His burns were now swollen and wet looking, giving him a greasy sheen. I noticed for the first time that he only had three fingers on one hand; the other two were burnt stubs.

"Good morning, sunshine." Eden skipped downstairs with a bucket of water in her hands. "I have presents for everyone for surviving the night! I was hesitant about giving them, though after being such bad boys." She beamed and turned to Dan, who laid unconscious still. "First, Daniel." She said and threw the bucket of water on him.

His eyes popped open and he let out a low scream and then I watched as they rolled back into his head and he resumed unconsciousness. He should be so lucky.

"And now you, Phil." She smiled, that weird gleam in her eyes still. "You're going to love your present."

_Oh, goody a present_. I bit down bile. I hoped it was an escape route.

She went back up the stairs and came back with heavy-duty gloves on and a cloth sack. She reached into the cloth sack and pulled out a mangy, angry looking tabby-cat by the nape of its neck. It started thrashing around against her hold and she giggled. "It's so happy to see you." She said sarcastically.

She started laughing harder and threw the cat in my face. Sharp claws met the skin of my cheeks and forehead and chest as it tried making its escape. I screamed out from fear and pain and felt warm blood drip down my forehead into my eyebrows.

The cat made a beeline for the door, where Eden intercepted it, quick as lightning. She was still laughing as I watched in horror as she quickly spun the cat's head around in an unnatural position, snapping its neck with a loud _crack!_

"Oh my god, you monster!" I tried backing up, which made my bad leg protest in pain. "Why did you do that? Why?" Tears flooded my eyes as I looked at the cat twitch in her hands and then slump into this big pile of fur. Any hope of getting out of here, any hope at all that I had left was gone with that poor cat. She was a psycho and I was going to die by her hands.

"Oh, Phil. It's alright, see?" She pulled the rug away that sat in the middle of the room, revealing a metal trap door that I hadn't noticed before. "I'll just throw him in the toy box for later."

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's a panic room." She started to unlock the door. "I come from a very affluent family, Phil. Very powerful and rich. Or they were before the accident."

"Accident?" I squeaked.

"Yep. It was so sad. A candle caught the curtains on fire, textbook accident." She looked at me over her glasses. "My sister, my daddy, my mom. Everybody, was gone. So, they sent me to live in the Bad Place for a while." She pulled open the door and the smell of decaying flesh and corpses hit me like a truck. I vomited on the floor. I saw body parts swimming in a pool of its own degeneration at the bottom of the room. Even Dan started coughing at the smell. I watched her toss in the dead cat and close the metal door. "They teased me because of you guys. They said I was a nerd and I had no life. They said I was obsessed." She gave me a dark look. "So, I set the place on fire and ran away. But, now I have you, Phil and Dan too and I want to play with you guys. Forever."

My heart dropped. This psycho thirteen year old serial killer was going to kill us. Impending death weighed on me like a ton of lead bricks. What was the point of escaping? I was going to die here anyway, like her parents and whoever that was swimming at the bottom of that panic room. My stomach turned at the thought of me and Dan down there, slowly rotting away. No one would find us. We would just turn into corpse soup.

I looked at Dan, who was still drenched from earlier and shivering. He had gone pale and his burns were turning black and green around the edges. I watched his labor breathing. Inhale, rattle, exhale. If he was still fighting to stay alive, then I should too.

"Were you the one that sent those drawings?" I asked Eden, who had taken to constructing something medieval looking at the table.

"Yep. I've been following you guys for a while." She turned. "I was kind of hurt though, the way you destroyed each drawing I sent you. I mean, I drew it in my own blood."

I shivered. That explained the red ink, though. "Will you ever let us out of here?" I knew it was a stupid question to ask, but it was kind of bothering me.

"No. You're mine forever or until I get bored with you." She came over and hugged me, making the cat scratches on my chest throb. "I don't think Dan's going to make it the night." She sighed and looked over. "Too bad. He was going to be a fun toy. Tata, Phil."

_Until she gets bored with us._ I shuddered and look over at the metal door that sat gleaming in the eery light, an idea occurring to me.

"Shit." I cursed and hung my head, realizing what I had to do to save Dan and I and how I prayed to every higher power that I didn't have to go through with it.

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**Dear Miss ijustlovemesomefriedchicken (which is a great username and makes me cry tears of shame): I'm glad you're, uh, err, enjoying it? Would that be a proper term to use? Hehe. O_o**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi lovely fantasmic sloths of readitude!**

**I'm so so so sorry for not updating! I was in Hermosillo, Mexico this past long weekend with Doctors Without Borders doing some pro bono work for an orphanage there and the only wifi I had was in the hotel we were staying at (and it pretty much ran like my grandma would in in a 5K: slow) **

**But I have some good news! I finished with this story, so I will be uploading the rest of that throughout the week. Also, the Phil-fic sequel to ****_Love is Blind_**** (if you haven't read it yet, do eeeet) is half-way finished and if I don't post the first chapter tonight, most definitely look for it tomorrow! **

**Thank you guys so much for reviewing and reading, even if I'm enabling some dark weird addictive side of you!**

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Chapter 7

Board Games

Eden came down again later in the day. I had fallen asleep against my shoulder to Dan's labored breathing. I had formulated a plan for how to get out of here. I hated lying. I hated it even when I was lying to a potential serial killer/kidnapper. But, I was pretty sure that Dan's wounds had gone septic and that he was barely hanging on. I had to get him out of here if I wanted to see my best friend live.

"I brought you some food." She beamed as she stuffed a banana in between my teeth. I slowly chewed on it while I watched Eden go play with one of her "toys" on the table.

I let the banana peel fall to the floor and stared at it a bit. It looked so sad laying there. I knew it was just a banana peel, but still. It was hard to find things amusing nowadays.

I sighed. On top of hating lying, I sucked at it. "Eden?"

She turned around, all wide-eyes and gap teeth. "Yes?"

"Do you perhaps want to play a game?" I shuddered. Her definition of games was not the same as my definition of games.

Her eyes brightened. "Sure! What do you want to play?"

"How about a board game?"

She bit her lip. "I think I have Parcheesi."

I nodded my head really fast. "That's perfect! We can play Parcheesi."

"Okay!" Her ponytail flopped around on her head and she started running up the stairs and stopped half-way. She turned around, her eyes narrowing. "Why do you want to play with me all of a sudden?"

I looked down at my feet. "I guess…boredom? And without Dan, I'm pretty lonely."

She bit her lip again. "Aw! I promise I won't neglect you anymore. Let me go get the game."

I heard her trod around upstairs and I waited for her to come back down. She held the old game board under her arm and set it on the table, while she zip-tied my ankles together and let my hands loose. I rubbed the cuts on my wrists as I sat down on the wood floor, my knee screaming in pain as I changed positions on it.

"You want to be red?" She asked as she set up the board.

"Sure and I was thinking, we could make this a little bit more interesting?"

Her eyes flicked up at me. "Oh?"

"I think, if I win, you should let me sleep tonight out of the ties." I said as I rubbed my hurting knee.

"And if I win?" She asked.

"I sleep in there, with Dan." I pointed to the "toy box."

She looked over her shoulder at the metal door, calculating. It was a pretty good deal, honestly. I wasn't asking for much, just a night out of the ties, it was pretty much a win-win situation for Eden.

"That seems fair." She shrugged and we started playing. I rolled a five right off and got my piece out of the nest. We continued rolling and moving. She had rolled a twelve, double sixes, three times in a row and had captured two of my pieces in the process.

"I'm winning!" She beamed as she moved her first piece into the safe spot.

"That you are." I watched her more than I watched the game. What she didn't know was that it wasn't about winning or losing for me, because either way, I won. Out of the ties, I could maneuver myself to cut the ties around my ankles. In the Toy Box, I was out of sight, ready to make my escape.

She rounded her third piece into the safe spot, whereas I only had one piece there. "I guess you get to sleep with the dead, tonight, Phil." She beamed. "It's okay, better familiarize yourself now, rather than later."

I shuddered at that thought. I was not going to die in this house, not tonight, not ever. Dan either.

She pumped her fists into the air as she rounded her last piece to home. "I win!" She shouted and looked at her watch. "It's 8:30, I think that it's time for bed." The evil gleam caught in her eyes and she smiled wickedly.

She got up and started rolling Dan's unconscious body over to the door. I watched her open it, the smell hitting me again, but this time I was expecting it, so I suppressed the urge to vomit all over myself.

She heaved Dan's body over the edge and it splashed in the filth. I turned my head away as I watched Dan fondle some poor corpse.

"Your turn." She started pushing me from behind towards the hole. My eyes widened as I fell headfirst into slime and blood and body parts. "Goodnight boys!" She laughed loudly as I watched her slammed the door shut.

I pulled Dan's head above the sewage so he could breathe and let my eyes adjust to the light. I started running my hands around the wall of the hole, feeling. If I was correct, from the way the house was built and what era it was built in, there was going to be…

Ha! Found it!

My fingers grabbed a latch and I pulled gently, a hidden door opening up.

"Alright, Dan." I said, hoisting his body over my shoulder. "We're free."


	8. Chapter 8

_To phan or not to phan?_

_You decide._

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Chapter 8

Ratz

If I was correct, Eden lived in an early nineteenth century townhome. These townhomes were all owned by one proprietor and then rented out to working class citizens and their families. They were hooked together via a tunnel system so maids could go from house to house and later, when the bomb-strikes were happening during World War II, an escape to neighbor's house for safety.

I hoped.

I dragged Dan's body down the creepy, dank, cramped tunnel system. My knee was on fire from being bent in an odd position and every once in a while I had to stop and brace myself on the wall to keep myself from passing out.

"PHIL! PHIL!" I could hear Eden's screams of frustration echo down the corridor.

_Please don't find us._ I prayed. I couldn't think about what she would do if she found us. Kill Dan and me, probably. Slowly, painfully…

I placed the palms of my hands against the wall to steady myself and focused on breathing, while watching Dan grimace against the pain.

It was so hot in this corridor. Sweat mixed with dirt on my face, stinging my eyes and plastering my fringe to my forehead. I pushed Dan's hair out of his face and fanned him. He was still struggling hard to breathe and I could tell I was losing him, but I couldn't stop now. There was no going back now.

And I smelled like a dead person wrapped in burnt bacon. _Lovely._

I yanked Dan's cardigan off his arms, peeling blistered, burned skin with it. His eyes fluttered open for a moment, which were vacant and staring, and he coughed. I jammed the sweater under his head and the wheezing subsided slightly.

I grabbed his under arms and slid back, pushing myself with my good leg. I wasn't sure where this corridor was going to take me. Hopefully to another house, with a telephone so we could phone the police and an ambulance so I could save my dying friend.

I kept pulling, my muscles in my arms and neck yanked and sore, my knee protesting in pain. I kept pulling and pulling and Eden's screams of rage grew fainter until they disappeared, until the smell of her rotting family didn't permeate the air anymore.

I tried focusing on happy thoughts, like my bed and my favorite lion and my video games and my box of cereal that was waiting for me when I got home, but every time I tried to focus on something happy, Dan would cough and wheeze, making me panic. Time was ticking, I had to move.

"Phil." I stopped to a faint, raspy voice coming from Dan. "I-I can't see."

"Dan, I'm right here." I placed both my hands on the side of his face, making him focus on me. "We're getting out of here."

"Leave me." His voice was barely audible. "Save yourself."

"What are you talking about? It's my fault we're in this mess! We're going to get you help, Dan. I'm almost there, I promise."

"Phil, listen to me. Don't be an idiot." His hand came up like he wanted to touch me but, then fell heavily on his chest. He only had two fingers on that one. "I'm _dying_, okay?" He started coughing violently. "Leave me. Save yourself. You would have a better shot." His head slumped to the side and I watched him resume his wheezing.

Tears stung my eyes and my vision turned blurry. "No. I will get you out of this." I started pulling and pushing back. "I promise Dan, we're in this together."

I pulled hard, moving back and I pulled again. Something popped and I watched my left field of vision turn red, like I was looking through a pair of those 3-D glasses you get at the cinema. But I couldn't stop for anything now. I had to do it for Dan.

My shoulder brushed up against something and I investigated it with my fingers. It felt like a little doorknob. I almost shouted with excitement as I popped the little door open and yanked me and Dan inside.

It was a dark room, but I didn't care. I laid next to Dan breathing heavy, rubbing my eye. Relief swept over me like wave in the ocean. We were free. _We were free._

Something scurried over my chest and I freaked and tried to brush it off. I rolled over on my belly and came nose to nose with about a bazillion (well more like a thousand) pairs of beady, shiny red eyes.

Fear hit me like a ton of bricks and I jumped, making the rats swarm and run around us. The wave that came at us must've been knee deep. I took off my shoe and started smacking the ground, trying to get them to flee. They didn't care, they just continued to swarm. I watched in horror as they beelined around me and went straight for Dan. I threw myself on top of him, shielding ourselves the best I could with my hoodie. I felt their little feet run all over my back and I sat there and tried not to cry as they chewed little bits out of my legs and arms and sides.

As soon as their little death cries stopped, I got up, dragging Dan back towards the door we came through.

_ When will this nightmare ever end?_


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Peppermint Schnapps

"Dan!" I started screaming. I had been pulling in the tunnel. Everything hurt. Everything bled. I was exhausted and my vision was going red and fuzzy. The only thing that kept me going was the methodical breathing of Dan. Inhale. Rattle. Exhale. Pull. I was doing it for what seemed like hours. But, I was mid-pull when I noticed something was wrong.

I leaned over and put my head on Dan's chest. His heartbeat fluttered fast like hummingbird's wings. He had stopped breathing, his lips turned blue. I panicked, and started shaking his shoulders. "Please don't die." I begged, tears streaming down my face. I put my fingers to my eyes and rubbed till I saw fireworks. What do I do? _What do I do?_

I looked back down at Dan; his face slightly bloated from swelling and his wounds red and raw and did the first thing that came to mind. "Oh, bloody hell." I leaned down, my lips locking with his dry and cracked ones as I forced air into his lungs. I pulled back, checked his breathing and did it again.

Finally his eyes fluttered slightly as fluid bubbled to his lips. I rolled him over on his side and slammed my fist into his back, forcing more fluid out and I watched him cough. Once. Twice. And then the methodical breathing came back.

What was going on? I don't know. I didn't want to hang around to find out. I started pulling again. My knee has swollen to the point where I couldn't bend it properly anymore and every time I moved I forced the little wounds from the cat and the rats open, so they were constantly bleeding, staining my shirt, my pants, stinging my eyes.

I kept pulling and I noticed the corridor started getting smaller and smaller and then the corridor stopped, just like that. It was the end. I felt around the area and found a seam of some sort. It was a door. But it had been sealed shut. There was no opening it.

_No! No! _I burst into tears. How could it have been sealed shut? This was our escape, our freedom. It was so close, but so far away. I curled my good knee to my chest and sobbed into my arms. Dan was going to die. I was going to die. This was the end. All that hard work for nothing.

"_Sharon! What did yah do with that bottle that I had last night_?"

"_Your medicine is under the sink, love!_"

Voices made me perk up and I put my ear to the wall. I could hear the telly and somebody in there, cursing and talking to himself. I banged on the door, or at least I tried. I was so exhausted, I could've passed out, right there.

"_No, woman! My bottle of Schnapps!"_

"_You can't have that on your heart medication, dear. Doctor's orders._"

Anxiety and excitement and claustrophobia filled my chest with butterflies. I found the seam with my fingers and started prying, desperate to get out. I scratched at the old wood, pain shooting up my fingers as my nails broke against the door. I continued scratching though. I had to. I had to get Dan out of here.

I dug my fingers into the paneling and ripped, crying when splinters bit into the palms of my hands. The wood was slick with my blood, making it hard to grip. I started slamming my shoulder against the door.

"_The doctor is a wanker, you know it_."

Slam!

"_Oh, don't say things like that about Dr. Olstein. He's such a nice fellow._"

Slam!

"_Just because he's nice, doesn't mean he's not a wanker. Now, where's my liquor, woman?"_

Slam!

Dan and I fell through the door, ripping the floral wallpaper off the walls, and fell to the ground. My fingers were bloody and still twitching at the pain. A woman with a dyed red beehive hairdo and a man who was in an undershirt and suspenders stood up suddenly. I covered my eyes at the bright lights and focused on breathing. "Oh, dear!" The woman yelled. "Oh, dear!"

The man peered down at us. "Bloody hell! Look at what you did the wall!"

"Can…you…call…an ambulance?" I panted.

The woman raced back and forth like a chicken with her head cut off, her bathrobe fluttering behind her like a cape. "Oh, dear! Oh, dear! Look at you two! Oh, dear!"

"Woman! Phone an ambulance!" The man shouted, making the woman stop, her eyes wide with fright. She turned around, her cape/robe swishing behind her as she ran into another room. The man rolled his eyes and started making his way to the wet bar. "Bloody hell. I'm not drunk enough for this shit."

I rolled over towards my dying best friend, pushing his curly, matted air out of his eyes and wiping old blood and what else off his face with the back of my hand. "I told I would get you out of here." I whispered as I let unconsciousness take me.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Four and a Half

_Beep… Beep… Beep…_

_ Oh, goodness. What an annoying noise. I wonder if Dan left his coffee in the microwave again. Rude. I should get onto him about that. But this bed…it's so nice and soft…and I know, bed. I won't leave you, don't worry. _

My eyes snapped open to harsh florescent light, making me squeeze them shut again. I lifted my hands to my face, but to my surprise, there was something on them. I opened my eyes against to what looked like white oven mitts taped all the way down to my wrists.

"Phil! Ohmigoodness!" I looked over at Bryony who was reclining in a chair. "You're awake."

"What happened?" I looked down at a hospital gown that ended at a machine that was slowly bending my braced and casted knee back and forth.

"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Langeston called the police. Apparently, you were held hostage and tortured by an evil creature child named Eden Van Coon, but somehow you escaped and don't worry they have Eden in cust-,"

"Dan!" I said, almost rolling out of bed, memories and pain and everything flooding back. "Where's Dan? Did he make it? Is he alright?"

Bry's eyes darted to her lap as she played with her hands. My heart sank into my stomach and I made some sort of inhuman noise as I managed to undo the straps on that blasted machine and bring my heavy leg around. I ripped off the heart monitors, making the machine behind me squeal. I had never been in a full leg cast before, and getting my feet was an adventure as I sat back down heavily on my bed, dizzy. I put my head in my hands.

"Maybe you shouldn't get up-,"

"Where's Dan?" I said through gritted teeth.

"He's on the Burn Unit."

I perked up. "So, he's alive?"

"Yes, but-,"

"But what?"

"Let me finish!" She yelled, putting her hands on my shoulders. "I don't think you're going to like what you see."

"But he is alive?"

"Generally, yes."

"What does that mean?"

She sighed and looked past my shoulder, out my window. "I guess it would be best just to show you." She got up and pulled a wheelchair that had been sitting in my private bathroom and helped me into it, sort of. This was the first time I got to look at myself since I woke up. My hands were bandaged and so was my leg. All the little scratches and bite marks had its own bandage or ace wrap, making me resemble a mummy.

"Dan's had a tough battle." Bry started to explain as she pushed me down the hall to a lift. "When he got to the hospital, they said that he should've been dead days ago, if not by his burns, then by the condition of his respiratory system. His wounds had gone gangrenous and he was fighting pneumonia." I thought of the way Eden threw a bucket of water on him and the way he was coughing up stuff and my chest burned with rage. "They're thinking that if they can't get the infection under control, he'll lose one, if not both of his legs. He's been in surgery multiple times and well, he's pretty much got a fifty-fifty chance now."

We rolled into the Burn Unit, passing nurses in minty scrubs, I looked at the faces in the big windows that made up the patients rooms, old and young and there was even a little girl not older than seven or eight, burnt straight up to her hairline. I didn't want to dwell on that though, I was looking for someone specific, someone…

"Dan." I breathed, putting both palms up to the window, tears choking me out. Multiple machines sang around him, beeping and chirping and sighing. A tube ran from his mouth to a specific machine that counted his breaths and another tube ran from under the sheets, filling a container up with yellowy-brown liquid. I watched the sporadic line of the heart monitor. Blankets were pulled up to his chin, so I could only imagine what damage lay beneath.

"I told you, you wouldn't like what you saw." Bry said solemnly as we both watched Dan fight for his life. I leaned over and opened the door, pushing myself in. He shivered hard, teeth rattling against the tube. I found his hand under the sheets, it was wrapped like mine. I gripped it, the best I could.

His eyes fluttered opened and he focused on me, squinting hard. The hand I wasn't holding came up and two out of five fingers lazily tugged at the line in his mouth, before he gave up and thumped his hand on his chest.

"Can he talk?" I turned to Bry, who was leaning on my wheelchair.

"No, the tube is breathing for him, so it's restricting his vocal cords."

"Can he write?" I asked and she shot me a look like _he has four and a half fingers between two hands, you do the math._ His hand patted mine and he tapped at a paper on the bedside table in front of him. On it was pictures of things like medicine and a cup of water and then there was an alphabet at the bottom. He started poking at letters as fast as he could go.

"Go slower." I said and his finger came down.

"G." I said.

"E." Bryony said.

"T."

"H."

"E."

"R."

"Get her? What does that mean?"

But I knew exactly what he meant.

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**My goodness! So many reviews! I'm glad y'all are liking it! **


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